Air raid destroys school in Afghan northern Kunduz province

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, July 15 (Xinhua) -- At least three persons were injured and a school was destroyed after an aircraft pounded Khawja Mashad neighborhood in the Kunduz city, the capital of northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province, 250 km north of Kabul on Saturday, a local official said.

"It was around 04:15 a.m. local time today when a fighter plane pounded Khawja Mashad area in Kunduz city, destroying a school and a house nearby," director of Education Department in the province Janat Gul Nasiri told Xinhua.

Three children of the nearby house sustained injuries due to the attack, the official added.

He also noted that 13 shops close to the school were damaged in the raid.

"Since it was early morning and no student was in school, there was no loss of life," Nasiri further said.

However, he pointed finger at the U.S.-led coalition forces by saying, "the foreign forces jet fighter targeted the school" and damaged the properties nearby.

The official further said the jet fighter also targeted Taliban positions in Taloka area outside Kunduz city at the same time Saturday morning.

Neither Afghan security officials nor U.S. military has made comment.

Kunduz has been the scene of heavy fighting over the past several months and the Taliban militants have been attempting to overrun Kunduz city.